


Hitch a Ride

by harmony88



Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [7]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, F/M, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:28:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harmony88/pseuds/harmony88
Summary: COMPLETEThe Doctor and Rose are still trying to figure out how to finish what they started, and what it all means for their child when a familiar face appears, and they discover some information that they can't ignore.“Hey Rosie,” he said breathlessly, his back pressed against the door. “Sorry to barge in, but, I got a hoard of angry villagers chasing me, saw the blue box, thought maybe I could hitch a ride.” She stared at him, and he grinned widely when he saw what she was wearing. “Did I interrupt something?”“A bit, yeah,” she said, and he started laughing.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111892
Comments: 4
Kudos: 125





	1. Nightmares

She wasn’t prepared for vivid nightmares.

She screamed herself awake and startled him, and he immediately pulled her into a hug and held her as the street she had just been on fluttered away, taking all the trash that had been at her feet with it. Her back felt lighter when she realized she wasn’t wearing a space gun, and it took her a few moments to process that there weren’t abandoned cars all around her and the Doctor wasn’t running at her, grinning madly, and her heart wasn’t beating so hard against her chest with a longing and pain that told her it had been a while since she’d seen him. 

Slowly, very slowly, she remembered they were on the TARDIS. Donna wasn’t there watching them try to get to each other, looking on happily. 

A Dalek didn’t shoot him. 

He was safe. 

She clung to him and he was whispering something to her but she couldn’t make it out. She was sobbing, probably, she couldn’t quite tell, but she knew her chest hurt and she was trembling. 

“Rose, breathe. Breathe, shhh...” she suddenly heard him say, and she realized she was hyperventilating when the TARDIS had to get involved and a paper bag appeared, and he handed it to her, sitting up with her and helping her even out her breath, and her awareness of the room came back to her. 

He was safe. He was safe and he was staring at her with concern. He had seen her have nightmares before, and as someone who is visited by them fairly often himself, he absolutely hated when they gripped her sleep, though he had never seen her take this long to recover. The worst one he can remember watching her have knocked the wind out of him about a week after he got her back, complete with thrashing and screaming, but this one, he could tell, had been utterly brutal. It made his stomach churn. 

She lowered the bag into her lap and kept her eyes closed, and she let out a long breath. 

“Bad dream,” she whispered with a small, pained laugh to try and break the tension. He swallowed. 

“Come here,” he said, and he pulled her to him. He didn’t push, or ask any questions, and she was grateful for that. Part of him didn’t want to know, and the other part would never be one to criticize how a person responds to a nightmare. He just whispered to her in Gallifreyan as her heartbeat started to even out a little and she pulled away, leaving her hand in his as she wiped her eyes. 

“It just….felt so real,” she whispered. 

He clenched his jaw and rubbed his thumb on her hand. “That can happen. Time Lord pregnancies especially, but even humans too. Vivid dreams. Nightmares. I...Rose, I...” 

She looked at him and he was staring at their intertwined hands, and she knew he was upset because he felt like he should have prepared for it and also because there was likely nothing he could do to prevent them. She squeezed his hand. 

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not real and that’s what matters.” 

He glanced up at her and sighed, realizing she was comforting him now. He groaned, incredibly frustrated with himself and his bloody selfishness again. 

“I’m so-” he began, and she just gave him a look. He hugged her, kissing her shoulder over and over, and she let out a deep breath. 

“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she said after a moment, and he just kissed her shoulder again. 

“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Are you alright?” 

She didn’t say anything, and he felt his stomach churn a little bit more. He looked at her and saw how pale she was and he clenched his jaw, doing the only thing he could think of at the moment and slipped his hand in hers and helped her up, leading her silently toward the infirmary. 

“I’m fine, Doctor, I’m just -” she began, but he just patted the metal bed and she sighed. “I really don’t want to do any more tests right now.” 

“Not a test,” he said. “Come on.” 

She rubbed her eyes and propped herself up, and he had her lay back and hooked up the ultrasound technology to the monitor and she bit her lip, realizing what he was doing and she felt her throat tighten as he sniffed and hovered over her skin. 

“There,” he said. “All snug.” 

She looked at him, and he was beaming with pride as he looked at the screen, and she darted her eyes over it as well, and she just started to cry. His smile fell, and he grabbed her hand and placed the device down and she just shook her head. “Can you show me where it is? Because I just...I still can’t…” 

He tried not to laugh in relief when he realized her tears weren’t about the nightmare and returned to the screen, the device back in place. She was 9 weeks pregnant now, and he got everything in the proper position before he looked at her with a gentle smile. “You see that blip right there?” 

Her eyes narrowed and she wiped her tears and she just furrowed her brow. “Where?” 

“Right there,” he said, pointing again, and she just shook her head. 

“But that just looks like...I mean it's…” she said, and he watched as it hit her, and he fell in love with the awe on her face. The way her cheeks blushed and she nibbled on her lip, the way her jaw trembled ever so slightly, the way her eyes were glassy. “It’s so small.” 

“Bout the size of a grape,” he said, his voice more hoarse than he expected.

“Yeah?” she whispered, and he grabbed her hands and kissed the back of them. 

“Yep,” he murmured, and her eyes were glued to the screen again. 

Her nightmare was entirely forgotten about, just as he hoped it would be, and he just held her hand and stared at the screen. He took a picture and the TARDIS printed it out, and he smiled. 

“For the console, what do you think?” he asked. She just sniffed, teary eyed again, and nodded. 

“I love it,” she whispered. “Is it too early to hear the heartbeat?” 

He stopped breathing for a moment and looked at her, and then looked over at the screen. “I…” he cleared his throat. “Let’s find out.” 

She smiled at him, and he sniffed, scanning the device with his sonic screwdriver for a moment. He placed it on her skin this time and waited, and was about to give up when the unmistakable “whoosh” of a heartbeat echoed through the room and he dropped the scanner. 

“S-sorry,” he stammered, and she bit her lip. She covered her mouth with her hand as he reset, and they both sat silently, when once again they heard the “whoosh.” He smiled at her, about to drop the device again to capture her in a kiss when a second “whoosh” quickly followed the first, and they stared at each other. 

“Two hearts?” Rose said, beaming. He couldn’t speak, he just stared at her and slowly put the scanner on the table next to him, his brain mush. He opened his mouth and immediately closed it, and he just dropped his gaze to her abdomen, stunned. 

He genuinely, for some reason, only expected one heartbeat. He realized in that moment how ignorant that was, because his wife’s DNA was crawling with Artron Energy just like his, but somehow he still... 

He looked at her with that same expression he had so many times since they got forever, the one where she could tell he was trying to process and understand how any of this was possible, and she immediately pulled him to her when his shoulders started to hunch, the reality setting in. 

He was no longer the last of his kind. 

She held him, and he was too overwhelmed to cry. He couldn’t really do anything other than stare and collapse into her touch as she kissed his head and rubbed his back, understanding coursing through her entirely, and he shifted to wrap his arms around her. He cupped his hand around the back of her head, cradling it, and he pulled away a minute later, his voice raspy. 

“Rose,” he said, and she smiled at him. He didn’t want to stop hugging her, but eventually she was finding air a little difficult to come by and she coughed, and he pulled away, alarmed. “I’m sorry!” 

“Don’t be,” she said, grinning madly. He just stared at her. 

“I just...I never...thought about that,” he whispered. “Even in all the daydreaming. I never….realized.” 

She was playing with the hem of her shirt and just bit her lip, unsure if she should say what she was about to. He could tell from the look in her eye that was going to simultaneously shatter and mend his hearts, and he just waited. “You never thought that maybe you’ll do the impossible? That maybe you’ll survive?” 

He looked at her, knowing she meant it to be a sweet callback, a kind reminder of just how far they’d come, a hopeful nod to the future even, and he could tell she immediately regretted it. Because his initial reaction is what she was afraid he would do, which was stay silent and remember that the Time Lords didn’t survive. 

He almost let that be the end of it. He almost cleared his throat and said “no” and moved on, but he didn’t. Because he looked at her, and he remembered. His perfect, pink, yellow and gold human, who pulled him out of the darkness and saved him. He knew her, he believed in her, and he realized what she was actually saying, and it made his head spin. 

The Time Lords may not have survived. But he did. And he never imagined the impossible thing that was _her._

And because of her... Now there were two. 

No. Three. 

His mind was open, once again too distracted to realize he had done it, and she cupped his cheek. 

“I’m not Time Lady,” she whispered, and he burst out laughing. 

“No, but you sure as hell act like it,” he said, beaming at her. “You basically are. I think that quite often, in fact.” 

He kissed her, a sudden burst of hope and love piercing that spot in between his hearts and wrapping itself around both of them as they beat rapidly in his chest. He kissed her again, and again, and she started to laugh, and he lifted her off the metal bed and spun her in a circle.  
He put her down and she gripped the edge of the bed to keep from falling, and they just looked at each other. “Thank you.” 

“You don’t have to thank me, Doctor,” Rose said. 

“I do,” he whispered, and he let out a breath. He wiggled his fingers at her and she took his hand, following him to the console room, and she watched as he put the sonogram up by the monitor and then played around with some of the coordinates, pulling the lever. 

“Where are we going?” she asked, leaning over and trying to look at the screen. He pulled it away from her, raising an eyebrow playfully, and she sat in her seat with her tongue in the corner of her mouth. The gentle spin of time came to a stop and he smiled. 

“Allons-y, Rose Tyler!”


	2. Father, Dad, Daddy

An hour later, they were sitting in a spring surrounded by greenery. It was lush and smelled like heaven, and the water was warm and inviting. She had traded her pajamas for a black bikini and a slip that was currently draped over a rock, and he was in TARDIS blue swim trunks, shirtless with his arms resting on the edge of the earth surrounding the water. She was sitting beside him, playing footsies and causing the water to ripple around them, but they weren’t looking at each other. They were both staring at some monkey-like creatures above their heads that were gliding from branch to branch, trying to get home. 

It was an oasis on a planet she can’t pronounce, and in some ways it gave her a similar feeling to the villa, though nothing could quite compare to the serenity she felt whenever they walked across that sand or heard the birds with the voices like chimes. The sun was hidden behind the very green trees, and Rose thought they reminded her of willows, spilling onto the top of the water ever so gently, brushing across it with the pulse of the breeze that was moving her hair about her face. 

It was warm and calm and welcoming, and she sank further into the spring with a happy sigh, closing her eyes. 

Her nightmare felt like a distant memory, especially as she let her thoughts wander, recalling all the happy moments she’d shared with the Doctor over the last three weeks. There had been so many smiles, so many brushes of his lips against hers, so many lingering touches on her belly. He fulfilled her proposal and they were married for a fourth time on Andromeda, which felt poetic and lovely for a lot of different reasons, and just last week she turned 24. 

It was her first birthday in their forever, and they went to the villa. She knew they’d have to go to Earth and do all the pomp and circumstance eventually, but she just wanted him that day, and they made love practically the entire time. It was passionate and lovely, a combination of her still randy hormones and the overwhelming realization he had that it was no longer a day that marked another step closer to leaving him, but a day to just celebrate. 

She knew that all those things coupled the knowledge that she was carrying their child did something to him, and she bit her lip as she remembered all the different ways he showed her exactly what that meant. 

She loved him so much it took her breath away. 

He looked over at her and moved in the water so he was a little closer to her, and he began to pepper kisses onto her neck. Their blocks were up, but she had a feeling he may have been lost in similar thoughts as his kisses grew longer and his tongue started to touch her skin, and she bit her lip. 

“Hello,” she said, and he smiled as he kissed her, pulling her onto his lap and creating more ripples around them. 

“Hi,” he whispered, and he began to rub her body slowly, and she felt a shiver go down her spine. “Can we?” 

“Here?” she asked with a small smile, and he shook his head. The TARDIS was just a few feet away and she nodded, and he wasted no time scooping her out of the water and carrying her through the threshold and moving to their bedroom. His lips were hot and wet against her skin as she slid her swimsuit off and he just smiled at her, unable to get over the surge of desire her naked body gives him, even after all this time. She laid down on the mattress and pulled him to her, making delicious sounds of urgent need and he was savoring her mouth, pulling off his trunks when there was suddenly a frantic knock on the door. 

They both ignored it as his body pressed up against hers, both completely naked and quite aroused, and she murmured to him in Gallifreyan as he began to rock with her, about to connect their minds as he buried his head against her neck. 

She gasped his name when the knocking happened again, this time with shouting, and he groaned. It wasn’t sexy, it was full of frustration and she also made a sound of irritation before she just gave him an apologetic look. 

“I’ll tell them to leave,” she whispered as she slid out from under him and wrapped the throw blanket from the bed around her body, running to the console room as he tried to calm himself down. 

The moment she pushed the door open, Jack came flooding in. 

“Hey Rosie,” he said breathlessly, his back pressed against the door. “Sorry to barge in, but, I got a hoard of angry villagers chasing me, saw the blue box, thought maybe I could hitch a ride.” She stared at him, and he grinned widely when he saw what she was wearing. “Did I interrupt something?” 

“A bit, yeah,” she said, and he started laughing. She rolled her eyes at him and they both turned when they heard footsteps. 

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Get out,” the Doctor said as he walked into the room, pointing at the door. He was wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants that wasn’t doing the greatest job at hiding his still evident arousal, and Jack just raised an eyebrow at him. The Doctor was already opening the door, about to literally throw him outside by the collar of his shirt when he looked up and saw the villagers running toward them with weapons and screams, and he shot Jack a glare as he slammed the door shut and ran to the console, sending them all to the Vortex. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

“Torchwood sent me to that oasis. Isn’t that why you were there?” he asked. Rose shook her head, still wrapped in a fairly revealing woven throw, and Jack’s eyes dropped involuntarily. He immediately stopped and looked at the Doctor, who was still glaring at him, and he just threw his hands in the air. “Sorry! I figured maybe you were on the case too! I haven’t seen you in months!” 

“We’ve been busy,” the Doctor said coldly, and Rose sighed. 

“I’m going to go put some clothes on,” she said. 

“Nooo, no, you two get back to it, and I’ll go raid your fridge,” Jack said with a saucy smile. Rose giggled, and the Doctor shot Jack an even darker glare, genuinely frustrated with him, and Jack just looked at Rose who was trying not to laugh even harder. 

“What was the case?” she asked, trying to distract everyone. Jack just sighed. 

“I solved it. There was an organism living in the soil. It was infecting the local villages’ food supply, eating most of it before they had a chance to. I came in, saved the day, but...well…” Jack said, sighing. Rose smirked. 

“You came on to someone you shouldn’t have, didn’t you?” she teased, and he just winked at her. She laughed, about to ask for details like two school girls at a sleepover when her eyes caught the Doctor’s. He was still by the console, not amused. 

“I heard you arrive and was trying to find you,” Jack admitted, giving Rose a look that he would tell her more later. “Figured maybe you were there to bail me out.” 

“No,” the Doctor said. Rose just looked at him. 

“Oh, come on, be nice,” she said, and he just shook his head at her, nudging his mind. 

_I can still see your breasts, Rose._

She looked down, and rubbed her lips together sheepishly as she tried to cover her body, and just moved to the bedroom calmly, her tongue in the corner of her mouth, and the Doctor’s eyes followed her out. Jack was rocking on his feet, feeling slightly awkward, and he moved to the console. 

“Sorry,” he said. “I really did think -” 

“Yeah, I know,” the Doctor said. Jack smiled flirtatiously, quite amused by the scene he walked in on, and the Doctor made a face.

“Glad to know the magic isn’t gone, eh?” he teased, and the Doctor just looked at him, not about to discuss his sex life with Jack of all people. He let it go and just sat back in the pilot’s seat as the Doctor began to play with wires. “How’ve you been?” 

“Busy,” he said. “You?” 

“Same,” he said. “Mickey’s doing really well. Gwen’s quite impressed.” 

“Good,” the Doctor said, glancing up at him. He sniffed and moved to another set of wires, and Jack began to look around the room. It had been about a year since he properly traveled with them, though they had teamed up on a few missions, and he noticed that as per usual, everything looked exactly the same. Until he glanced at the console, and he made a delighted sound as he reached for something unexpected that caught his eye. 

“What’s this?” he asked, and the Doctor tried to stop him. 

“Don’t,” he said, but Jack grabbed the sonogram and stared at it, and the Doctor sighed. 

He realized what he was looking at and stared at the Doctor with wide eyes. “She’s…?” 

“9 weeks,” the Doctor murmured, and Jack let out a cheer, running to the Doctor and lifting him off the ground. He tried to be irritated with him, he really did, but Rose being pregnant made him too bloody happy and he laughed, letting Jack shake him around for a moment. 

“What’s all this?” Rose asked with a smile as she walked back in. She was in yoga pants and a loose jumper, and Jack practically threw the Doctor to the ground as he ran to her and caught her in a hug. She smiled and laughed a little at him, and the Doctor caught her eye and held up the sonogram. She just shook her head. “You nosy arse.” 

“Rose,” Jack said, and it was the softest his voice had ever been. He was looking at her with such love and such awe, and it made her smile fall and her throat tighten. “I’m so happy for you.” 

“Thanks, Jack,” she whispered, and he pulled her into another hug, turning to the Doctor to make him join in as well. He kissed both of their heads, squeezing a little, and Rose and the Doctor’s eyes met in the embrace. 

They smiled. 

“Woo!” Jack said, shaking his head and jumping, releasing his friends. “That is some really great news.” 

“Yeah,” the Doctor said, his eyes still on Rose. She leaned in and kissed him, and Jack seemed completely stunned. It made Rose laugh, and she was reminded that he truly thinks of them as his best friends, and she nibbled on her lip a little. 

She suddenly wanted to tell him everything. 

“Hey, Jack?” she said, and the Doctor watched her, sensing what she was about to do, their minds still open. “I have some more good news.” He was still reeling, but he looked at her and she traced her tongue with her lip. “We found a way to get forever.” 

“What’s that mean?” Jack asked, and Rose smiled. 

“It means I’ll grow old at the same time as him,” she said, sliding her hand into the Doctor’s. Jack stared at her. “Or not...I guess I’m not really aging anymore, am I? I dunno, haven’t actually looked into that but it means I’ll live as long as him. Regenerate and everything, too.” 

“What?” Jack asked, smiling widely. “That’s…Hahaha!” 

He laughed madly as he kissed her cheek, then the Doctor’s mouth, and sure enough said something about being best friends forever. The Doctor smirked and looked at Rose, clicking his jaw as their eyes danced. Jack reacted _exactly_ as he predicted, and Rose groaned. 

She owed him 5 quid. 

He moved to the console, placing the sonogram back by the monitor and giving it a lingering look, and when he glanced up Rose and Jack were both laughing and talking. He could hear Rose telling him about the battle with the Sidekicks, and for a moment, completely unexpectedly, his mind flashed to an image of all three of them standing right where they are now, interrupted by a small blonde head running through the room, squealing as Jack tried to catch them. He cleared his throat and looked back down at the monitor, and closed his eyes. 

Family. In more ways than one. That’s what Rose had given him. 

He walked over to her and laced his arm around her waist, kissing the top of her head. 

“So...that’s why Ridgemont Entities just disappeared off our radar, then?” Jack asked as the Doctor tuned in, and Rose nodded. 

“Yep,” she said with a smile. Jack whistled. 

“I wondered! I did! Ask Mickey, I thought you two must have done something, but then I thought ‘no, they’d tell us’ and when you didn’t I thought Harold or whoever must have gotten lazy,” he said. 

The Doctor just kissed Rose again, who reached her hand out to Jack’s. “I’m sorry. That we didn’t tell you.” 

Jack just smiled at her and shook his head, cupping her cheek. “Nah, don’t do that. I don’t exactly tell everyone about my whole ‘can’t die’ thing if I don’t have to, Rosie. I get it.” 

She gave him a soft half smile and fluttered her lips, and when her stomach rumbled the Doctor realized she hadn’t eaten since she woke up. He looked at her, alarmed for a moment, and she just rubbed his arm. 

_Not as fragile as you think._

She moved to the galley with Jack, finally hearing the story about the villagers and laughing when she realized it was the village leader’s daughter he had tried to kiss, and the Doctor followed. 

“I guess you’ll probably want to drop me off in Cardiff, right?” Jack asked, eating one of the Doctor’s bananas, who let it slide with a smirk. 

Rose looked at her husband, who was suddenly much less interested in Jack and his banana when he saw she was only eating a box of chocolates. He shook his head at her, letting out a small sigh before opening the refrigerator so he could make actual food with actual nutrients in it, and Rose and Jack just made a face at each other. 

“I was getting to that. Pre-gaming,” she said with a grin, and he just looked at her, a faint smile on his lips. 

“He plays the doting husband part well,” Jack teased, and the Doctor turned and glared at him again. 

“I’m not, I’m just...She’s eating for two, and I, chocolate isn’t -” he said, trying to correct, and Rose just wrapped her arms around him and leaned against his chest. 

“He’s teasing you,” she said, and he just rolled his eyes. Rose looked back at Jack, and they just chatted while the Doctor made all of them food, and once they were all eating he looked at Jack and sighed. 

“One trip,” he said. “If you want.” 

He wasn’t actually as irritated as he was letting on. Not anymore. 

“Oh, baby! Course I want!” he shouted, and the Doctor couldn’t help but smile a little, and when Rose responded by slurping a noodle with a smile, he smiled at her. 

They decided to rest for a while first and spent some time in the Vortex, sharing stories over the last few months around the fireplace in the library, and it wasn’t long before they were all bantering and laughing and cracking jokes. 

He was having fun, and Rose tucked herself into her side after a while, snuggling and smiling as she listened to him argue with Jack over how to handle an hospital’s electrical grid override in the 51st century, apparently something Torchwood dealt with a few weeks back, and all felt exactly as it should. 

She fell asleep eventually, and the Doctor picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, making sure she was covered and comfortable before he went back to the library, where Jack was staring at the fire. 

The flames danced against his cheek, as gold as the light he knows is inside of Rose, and he turned and looked at the Doctor as he sat back down on the couch, also staring at the flames. 

Neither said anything for a bit, but Jack turned on the rug and looked at him, using the ottoman by the Doctor’s leather chair to support his elbow as he cupped his cheek in his hand. “How’s it feel?” 

“What?” the Doctor asked, sniffing. Jack just gave him a look. 

“Come on, Doc,” he said. “Are you alright?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?” he asked, his brow creasing. Jack just sighed. 

“I don’t mean ‘are you happy’ or ‘are you gonna stick around’,” he began, and the Doctor shot him a glare, not even wanting to think about a world in which he’d leave both of them behind. Jack sighed. “Since the day we met that woman’s safety has been your biggest priority,” he said. “And now you’ve got her and a kid on the way, and she may be a glowing goddess and I know she’s strong but...I dunno. You got a little more to worry about now.” 

The Doctor didn’t say anything, and he dropped his gaze from Jack back down onto the flames, watching as they twisted and turned and rippled like the water he sat in earlier. 

“I’m always alright,” he murmured. Jack just raised an eyebrow at him. The Doctor groaned. “What?” 

“That’s deflective as hell,” he said honestly, and the Doctor just smirked at him. 

“You been spending time with Donna?” he asked, and Jack just smiled. “I really am. She’s...I’m happy. Very. Almost a terrifying amount.” 

“That’s sort of what I mean,” Jack said softly. “I know it’s early, but...what are you going to do? Strap the baby to your backs while you fight aliens?” 

The Doctor clenched his jaw and stared at the fire, and Jack just leaned back against the ottoman. 

“Sorry, that’s not...that’s for you two to talk about,” he said. 

The Doctor still didn’t say anything, but he felt a nervousness grip his stomach that wasn’t there before. Jack just sat there quietly, and the Doctor’s mind was swimming. They hadn’t had that conversation, not really, and he knew it was an important one to have. It was one Rose planned on having before she got pregnant he knew, but the universe had other ideas and they had been in a happy little bubble for the last three weeks and he hadn’t thought to ask. 

It still felt too impossible in many ways. 

He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face, and Jack looked at him. “Sorry, Doc.” 

The Doctor stayed silent, not wanting to snap at Jack even though he felt like he deserved in that moment, and the fire twisted and rippled harder than before. Jack eventually stood and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Well...I’m happy for you, Daddy.” 

The Doctor didn’t look at him, but his entire body stiffened at the word and Jack walked out of the room to head to bed himself, and the Doctor just continued to stare at the fire. 

Daddy. 

A dad. 

A father…. 

He hadn’t been able to say that world in his head or out loud yet. He’d talked to her stomach a few times since the bedtime story, but never referred to himself as… 

He had tried, many times. He wanted to say it so badly but something stopped him, and it didn’t take a genius to know why. 

It was complicated, what he was feeling. He was thrilled, impossibly so, and was already so in love with that child growing inside of his wife, and he was so madly in love with her he just wanted to be the man she knew he could be, but that word… 

He closed his eyes and swallowed. He needed Rose. 

He put the fire out, and just as he was about to go to the bedroom she was standing in the doorway, and he just looked at her, not entirely surprised she was there. 

“Woke me up. The hum in my head,” she whispered. 

“Worried it might,” he murmured, and she just moved to him. 

He wrapped her in a hug instantly, and she ran her hand through the back of his hair, breathing him in. They stayed there for a moment before she silently led him to bed, crawling back into her spot and letting him snuggle up next to her, and she leaned on his chest as he traced small circles on her arm, neither speaking. 

She knew he’d tell her when he was ready, and she just kissed his chest and closed her eyes, hoping her presence was enough to comfort his weary thoughts. 

He held her close and kissed her head, and he eventually let out a breath. “I’m scared.” 

She pulled away and looked up at him. “What about?” 

“Being a…” he said, but his breath hitched again, and he felt an irritation bubble inside of him. “Jack asked questions. I haven’t been able to say the word. It’s...bothered me, that I just can’t seem to do it. Because I’m happy. And I…” She just rubbed her hand over his right heart and listened, and he kept his eyes closed. “It’s complicated.” 

“I know,” she whispered. “Does it help to know I’m terrified to be a mother, too? It doesn’t make me any less happy or excited, it just…” 

“Rose,” the Doctor said, kissing her forehead. “You are going to be fantastic. Absolutely. I have zero doubt in my mind about that.” 

She kissed him slowly, and he pressed his forehead to hers, processing. “I have zero doubt in my mind about you, too.” 

He noticed she didn’t say the word, and he sighed heavily. 

“I have a track record,” he muttered. She didn’t respond and he ran a hand over his face. “I’ve been thinking about them every night. I’m okay, I mean...I’m not...It’s fine, but I still can’t stop thinking about them, and it….” 

“I know,” she said, twisting his wedding ring a little. His throat felt tight and he couldn’t open his eyes, and she just continued. “But don’t forget you loved them. You fought for them.” 

“I killed them,” he said, the words piercing his hearts. The guilt that would always accompany their memory came rushing back with a vengeance in a way it hadn’t in a very long time, and he remembered how fragile the patches on his hearts are. She felt her own heart shatter too.

She knew something must have triggered him, because he truly had been able to put his guilt on a shelf for the most part, so she pulled him to her and rubbed his back. He wasn’t crying, but he was feeling something, and he was still rather angry with Jack for bringing this out in him tonight. They had already dealt with an overload of emotions once today. 

It was dizzying, the juxtaposition. This morning he was celebrating, and now he was…

There may be a word for it. He couldn’t think of it at the moment, but whatever it was wasn’t fun and was making Rose have to pick up the pieces. He sighed. 

“I love you,” he continued. “And I love our child, Rose. I’m happy, and I can’t wait to meet them and I know it’s going to be spectacular, but…” 

“A part of you thinks you might hurt them?” she whispered. His Adam’s apple bobbed a few times, and a moment or two passed before he could speak. 

“Something like that,” he muttered. “I didn’t think that this morning, so...I dunno. Maybe I’m just spiraling.” 

“Maybe,” she said. “What did Jack ask?” 

He looked at her, and he just kissed her forehead, realizing she just put the pieces together without even trying. Might be Instincts, might just be the fact that she’s his wife. Both made his hearts flutter. 

“Quite right,” he said, and Rose just stared at him. “He asked me what we’ll do when the baby is born. If we’ll, and I quote, ‘strap it to our backs and fight aliens?’” 

“Ugh, he is rather nosy today, isn’t he?” she said, laughing a little. The Doctor stared at the orbs on the ceiling, and she sat up, her eyes locking with his. “Doctor, look at me.” 

He did, and she slipped her hand into his. “We have time to figure that out. I also know we’re dealing with...something. Destiny, or whatever...and after what we went through last year I’m just...I’m trusting that whatever is supposed to happen will. So we can finish what we started. I also know that whatever decision we make might change the moment we meet them and hold them in our arms for the first time, so just…” 

“What?” he murmured, and she kissed him. 

“Believe in me? In us? Jack didn’t know what he was asking, and you and I are going to do everything we can to keep this baby safe. A wise man told me that just a few weeks ago when I had my own doubts, do you remember?” she asked, her tongue in the corner of her mouth. She was playing with his hair, sending shockwaves through his system, and he just smirked. 

“How do you do that?” he whispered. 

“Do what?” she asked, kissing his head. 

“You always say exactly the right thing,” he mused, cupping her cheek. “Even before we were married. You always….” 

“Remember the whole ‘universe threw us together’ thing?” she asked with a smile, and she felt relief flood her when he gave her a genuine smile back. 

“I love you, Rose,” he said. 

“I love you, too,” she said, twisting her hands through his hair. He just looked at her. 

“You tired?” he asked, and she shook her head. 

“Horny,” she admitted, and he just smiled at her. 

“I think I can do something about that,” he murmured, and she traced her lips with her tongue, rolling onto her back as he hovered above her, and they made love slowly, letting anxiety go, and he was reminded that she was all the strength he’d ever need. 

His wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find this version of the Doctor to be so intriguing to write. A constant battle of growth and retreating, of guilt and joy, of love and fear. Hope you all liked this one :)


	3. Trinity Diamonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback always welcomed. Hope you all are well!

The Doctor, to his credit, had let his frustration with Jack go the following morning and when he had tried to apologize again, the Doctor just shrugged it off. Rose watched carefully, but when her husband asked Jack where he wanted to go she knew everything was okay. 

Marriage. 

He ended up taking them to a small planet called Trinity. It was a trading post, the Doctor explained as they walked out of the TARDIS doors, and all the people they were surrounded by don't actually live on the planet. They just stop in to sell and trade goods from their home worlds, and as Rose looked around she realized the layout did remind her a little of a farmer’s market. There were tents and vendors that looped around the entire perimeter and through the middle, and she could tell the entire planet was within their eye line. It was quite small, and very obviously only used for the purpose the Doctor just described. 

“Shopping spree,” she teased as she squeezed his hand. They milled about slowly, though she avoided all the food stands, not in the mood to get sick today, and she rolled her eyes and separated herself from Jack when he insisted on trying everything from smelly cheeses to meat pies made with animals she had never heard of before. 

She may have had to puke in the bushes while the Doctor covered for her. 

They spent the entire day there, and she just held his hand as they looked at jewelry, hand crafted bows and arrows, fun knick knacks and toys (he picked one up for Tony), and she wasn’t surprised at all when he was drawn to a clock stand, staring at each one carefully with his glasses perched on his nose. 

“Can I see that one?” he asked the teller, who pulled a gorgeous mini grandfather clock off his shelf and set it down on the table. Rose smirked and crossed her arms as she watched the Doctor immediately scan it and not even try to hide his disappointment at the handiwork, and he sniffed. “It’s a bit rubbish, isn’t it?” 

She realized he was talking to her and she just shook her head, looking at the teller with a smile. “Forgive him, he’s -” 

“I mean it looks beautiful,” he said, realizing he was being rude, and Rose just bit her lip. He turned to the man. “Just the mechanism, it’s...well, it’s a little -” he said, and she just flashed him a look. He winked at her and didn’t finish his thought, and the vendor looked disgruntled as he took the clock back. Rose slipped her hand into his and tugged him away, ignoring his protests before she flashed him a smile. 

“I was trying to be helpful,” he said with a small, boastful smile and she just rolled her eyes. 

“You think you’re so impressive,” she said with her tongue in his favorite spot. 

“I am so impressive,” he purred, and they laughed together as they walked forward to try and find Jack, who had somehow managed to wander off out of sight. 

She tried a small bite of a cracker with a spread of some sort on it, a little hungry, and was relieved when she didn’t react, so the Doctor grabbed a small plate of them for her as they continued on, still bantering and flashing smiles at each other, and she stopped. 

He had continued walking ahead, rambling on about his favorite types of crackers from Earth that hadn’t been invented yet in her timeline, and he turned sharply when he realized she wasn’t next to him. He looked around curiously for her, and he found her about ten feet away, but he just stared when he realized what she was doing. 

She was laughing and chatting with one of the vendors, holding up a baby blanket. He felt his throat tighten and he looked down at his feet, and let out a breath. He walked up to her and kissed her head. 

“Oh! Is this the father?” the woman asked. Rose smiled. 

“This is my husband,” she said. The effort not to say the word again did not go unnoticed by him, and while he appreciated it, it made him frustrated, and something just snapped inside of him. 

He was tired of letting the dread in. 

“I’m the father, yes,” he said with a wide smile. His head was spinning and Rose’s neck snapped to him, and she looked at him a little in shock and a little in awe as she squeezed his hand and kissed his shoulder. He smiled at her. “What’s this?” 

“Hand-made,” the woman said, showing him the same blanket she showed Rose. “I knitted it myself from a synthetic wool I grow in my garden, its -”

She kept talking, but both Rose and the Doctor completely tuned her out as their minds connected. They nodded and smiled politely at her, entirely in their own world. 

_Are you alright?_

He looked at her, and he leaned his head on hers for a moment. 

_Oh, yes. New perspective. I’m too damn happy to let a single word have that much power._

_Doctor..._

_Rose, I promise. I’m fine. More than._

She was proud of him, and she traced his wedding ring with her thumb as they returned their attention to the vendor, who was still chatting away. 

“We’ll take it,” the Doctor said, and Rose bit her lip as the Doctor paid, and he folded it over his arm as they continued to walk. Neither said anything, and he found himself looking up at the sky, his eyes noticing the lack of clouds and faint crescent moon that was sneaking up behind the sun. “Guess this should go in the nursery, hm?” 

“Which one?” she asked, and he looked at her. “The TARDIS or the villa?” 

He smiled at her, their hands linked, and he stopped so he could kiss her. “You thought about that?” 

She almost rolled her eyes because _of course_ she thought about it, but she didn’t. Instead she just kissed him again, lingering just a little, and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Which one?” 

He smiled widely at her. “TARDIS, I think.” 

“Sounds perfect,” she said, smiling back at him. They both felt those blushes creep onto their cheeks, and his eyes darted down to her lips again, and he just kissed her, not caring if they were blocking the street and making people have to move around them. 

He had hope, and it was dizzying. 

He pulled away after a moment, sliding his hand back to hers as they continued to look at other vendors, still searching for Jack. They were about to turn around and head toward the TARDIS, when a shimmering light caught his eye. He furrowed his brow and walked with Rose toward the table, waiting patiently as the vendor chatted with a couple ahead of them, but they eventually walked away empty handed, and the Doctor looked down at the table. 

A diamond rested on a velvet pillow, and he was about to move on to the next vendor, when Rose squeezed his hand. 

Instincts. 

_Scan it._

He looked at her, and gave the vendor a small smile as he handed Rose the blanket and pulled out his screwdriver. 

“Oi, mate, what’re you doing?” the vendor asked. “Priceless that beauty is. Almost as priceless as your dame, I’d say.” 

The Doctor ignored him, and when the vendor started to yell at him again the Doctor reached into his suit coat and pulled out the diamond from the wolf's den, holding it up silently. He honestly had forgotten about it until this moment, having been rather distracted by his wife being pregnant over the last few weeks, and the vendor stopped talking and the Doctor just gave him a look before he continued to scan. Rose stepped forward, watching with the blanket tucked against her chest. 

Both diamonds were giving him the same reading. It wasn’t something he could fully understand just from the screwdriver, but he knew one thing. 

It wasn’t just a diamond. 

Rose glanced at him for a moment as he clenched his jaw, looking back at the scan. “Where are you from?” 

“Oh, nowhere really,” the vendor said, and the Doctor slipped his diamond back into his coat, staring at him. 

“Tell me,” he said seriously. The vendor just rolled his eyes. 

“Small planet, called Juu. You’ve probably never heard -” he began, and the Doctor’s brow furrowed. 

“I have. I’ve been there, actually,” he said. “Lovely waterfall by the tall mountain with the snowcaps?” 

“That’s the one,” the vendor said, surprised. He smiled a little at the Doctor. “How do you have one of the beauties?” 

“How do _you_?” the Doctor asked, deflecting. The vendor just made a small sound and sat down in his chair. 

“Oi, mate. I traded my best horse for it at the last one of these things,” he said. “It was just tucked in the bottom of this lad’s bag, completely untouched. Most beautiful thing I’ve seen, next to her.” 

He winked at Rose, who rolled her eyes. 

“Never gonna happen,” she said, and she knew something was wrong when the Doctor didn’t respond to the man flirting with her. He seemed distracted, staring at the diamond with a creased forehead. 

“How much?” he asked. The man whistled. 

“Oh, gotta go at least a million,” he said. “I only take credits.” 

The Doctor just clenched his jaw and reached into his pocket, holding up his psychic paper. He had no idea what it said, but the man’s eyes widened. “How much now?” 

“Take it,” the man said, and the Doctor sniffed, putting the paper back in his pocket and grabbed the diamond. 

“Pleasure,” he said, and he grabbed Rose’s hand, marching back to the TARDIS. 

Jack was flirting with a man near where the ship was parked, and the Doctor just grabbed his arm too, walking silently toward the blue doors. 

“Hey!” Jack said, and Rose shook her head, telling him not to argue with him right now. Jack’s face lined in confusion as the Doctor opened the doors, letting both of them go in first. 

His blocks were up like they always were when he thinks too hard, and the hum in Rose’s head was incessant. She watched as he took them to the Vortex and immediately walked away, not looking at either of them as he moved to his lab. Jack sighed and looked at Rose, who was playing with her earring. 

“Did you have fun today?” he asked. She nodded. 

“You?” she said, and he just smiled at her. “Good. I should go check on him.” 

“What happened?” he said, but she just kissed his cheek. 

“Be back soon,” she said, and she ran to the galley first to grab a pre-made meal the TARDIS whipped up, and Rose rubbed her hand on the wall and muttered a thank you before she walked down the hallway and opened the door to the lab, finding him on his stomach with his glasses back on his nose, staring at both diamonds. She leaned against the doorway, falling more in love with him for some reason, and she just took a bite of food. “You know you have a chair and a microscope and a full test kit in that cabinet, yeah?” 

“I want to see what I can see first,” he murmured, and he just furrowed his brow more. She took another bite. 

She was concerned too, what these diamonds were, and she was also a little worried he was mad at himself for nothing this sooner, even though they _had_ been going through a lot in the last few weeks, and she moved to sit next to him. She handed him her bowl. “You want some?” 

“No, you and the baby need it,” he said, not taking his eyes off the diamonds. She nibbled on her lip, watching. 

He eventually moved to the microscope she had mentioned, and he took a small drill to one of the diamonds to pull out a sample he could study under the lens. She watched, her bowl gone, and leaned against the table. 

“So weird,” he said under his breath, switching the lens. “What?!” 

“Can I see?” she asked. He looked at her and stepped aside, letting her eye the glass. “What’s a normal diamond look like?” 

His eyes snapped to her and he raced out the room, shouting something about her brilliance, and she smiled and bit her lip. He raced to the library, returning with a ring box, muttering under his breath and immediately getting to work. She gave him a silly look for a moment, and when he pulled out a diamond ring she traced her lips with her tongue, waiting for him to explain what the hell that was for, but he was entirely too distracted with his quest for knowledge to even realize he was showing it to her. He placed the ring on the glass and looked through the lens, then switched it with the sample from the diamond. 

He did this for a few minutes, deducting. She could feel his wheels turn, and eventually he sighed and placed both specimens to the side, removing his glasses from the bridge of his nose and rubbing his eyes. “They’re different, which I already knew. But I can’t figure out what is in the ones we found with the wolves.” 

“Well, whatever it is let them drain time, yeah?” she asked, and he just rubbed his hand on his face. 

“I don’t see any vortex particles or anything in them. It doesn’t make sense. They drained time and triggered the time lock...” he muttered. He dropped the small sample down the TARDIS scanner and sat rather impatiently for results, tapping his knee. “I’m an idiot. I should have done this weeks ago. And now there’s more out there, and I can’t help but feel like it’s...I just...I want to know.” 

“Come here,” she said, moving to wrap him in a hug. His head rested against her chest and she kissed the top of his head. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.” He sighed, listening to the sound of her heartbeat and letting it ease him a bit. The TARDIS was still scanning, and she picked up the diamond ring. “What’s this for?” 

He suddenly realized what he had done, and sighed. “Oh, that’s...” She just smiled at him knowingly, and he rolled his eyes. “I..it…” 

“What?” she said, brushing her knee up against his. 

“I bought that a long time ago,” he whispered. “When...does it matter, Rose?” 

“Was it for me?” she asked, and he just met her gaze, his cheek cupped in his hand on the table. 

“Yes,” he said. “Who else would it have been for?” 

Her lips curled into a smile and she looked back down at it, her eyes tracing the round diamond in the middle and the row of small baby diamonds along the band, which she noticed was gold. It was dainty and quite beautiful, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. 

“Were you…” she said, and he ran his hand through his hair. 

“When you fell,” he whispered. “I bought that.” 

“What?” Rose asked. She almost dropped the ring on the floor but she caught herself, and he just sighed. 

They still, to this day, don’t really talk about their time apart. They don’t like to remember it, and they never push each other with questions on what the other one did for those few months, and he never actually planned on telling her about this, and he just let out a breath. 

“I should have told you, I s’pose. Especially once we were married, but...I dunno, Rose. I just...The day you fell I came back to the TARDIS and after I had an absolute breakdown I sat in your room and I just...stared. I was numb. Literally couldn’t process my thoughts, or the fact that my body wasn’t breathing. I couldn’t do anything but sit on your old bed and just…” he said, breaking off. 

He hadn’t thought about this in a very long time, and it still affected him more than he could ever explain. She sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he tried to continue. 

“I decided that the universe couldn’t have you,” he whispered. He found himself trailing her face with his eyes, admiring each line, every pore, counting the number of eyelashes that were starting to get a little watery as she blinked, and he ran his thumb across her cheek. “So I decided I needed something to remind me that I couldn’t give up and I just did the first thing I could think of and I went to a shop. Bought this. It was my reminder. I kept in my pocket for four months while I searched for that rift until I found Atlantis and then... “ 

“What, Doctor?” she whispered, and he sighed. 

“And then I locked it away. Never planned on using it and I didn’t think I needed it anymore. You were here and we were just trying to run away from the memory of... And I…” he said, breaking off and shaking his head. “I was so scared of losing you again, you know that. And I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. We’d never said the words and I tried to convince myself again it was all in my head, I s’pose. This was all before Atlantis, Rose, and I don’t want you to think I didn’t love you. It’s that I did, so much, and if I lost you…” 

She kissed him. It was slow, soft, and gentle, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her to him as her tongue met his, dancing and tasting, and he moaned a little. She pulled away, her forehead pressed to his. 

“You’re telling me you had a damn ring for an entire year?” she asked, a little breathless. He just smiled a little sheepishly at her. 

“Technically it was a year and four months…” he said, and she just looked at him. “I’m sorry. By the time we were married we had rings that meant so much more and I...this one just makes me remember that I was -” he said, and she shook her head. 

“Fingers on lips,” she whispered. “I love you so much. You know that?” 

“Yes,” he said with a faint smile. She cupped her hands to his cheeks and just looked at him. 

“Do you hear what you just said to me? You bought me a ring when I was in a parallel universe because you refused to believe we would stay separated. I don’t care that you didn’t give it to me. It gave you the strength to find me.” 

He stared at her, and he looked down at her hands, which were still holding the band. He felt his throat tighten. 

“I suppose it did, didn’t it?” he whispered, and she just smiled at him. 

“Get over here,” she murmured, her lips already millimeters from his as she straddled his waist and kissed him. He deepened it, darting his tongue to her mouth and sliding his hands under her shirt to rest on her belly, and she suddenly gasped, breaking the kiss to pull his lips to her neck. He chuckled a little, and she looked around. 

“How sanitized is that beaker station?” she asked, and he pulled away to gawk at her. 

“Voracious,” he said, shaking his head at her. She flashed him her favorite smile. 

“How mad would you be if I just...threw them all to the ground?” she teased, and he groaned as her lips found his neck, and he gripped her closer to him. 

“The TARDIS can just make more, I’m sure,” he said, and she laughed as she kissed him. 

“I love you,” she said, brushing her hand along his jaw. He kissed the inside of her palm, and she grabbed the ring and put it back in the box, handing it to him. 

“You wanna wear it?” he asked, and she shook her head. 

“I like the ones we have,” she whispered. “I like feeling your heartbeat.” 

“Yeah?” he asked, smiling as she just nodded seductively and kissed him again, about to return to what they were doing before just as the TARDIS beeped, spitting out the readings for the diamonds. They pulled away, both a little too concerned about what they are to ignore the results, and she peered over his shoulder as he looked everything over carefully. 

“Why’s it say 1881?” she said. 

“That’s the year the diamonds were made,” he said. “They’re not...they’re artificial.” 

Her brow furrowed. “We found them growing in a mine.”

“Yeah,” he said. “We did.” 

He looked over the other results, and sighed. “The TARDIS picked up a trace amount of a time signature. But it’s not a full vortex particle, it’s just a strain. These were planted...I don’t think the time lock was the original goal.” 

“Why not?” Rose asked. He deducted, as did she, and he held her hand. 

“They’re too weak. Remember? The wolves had thousands of them in their pit, and they couldn’t make the effects last,” he said. Rose began to pace, and he smiled slightly, realizing she was acting a little like him. 

“The only person who knows, Doctor…” she began, and he just flashed her a smile. 

“Are you suggesting we do some sleuthing, Rose Tyler?” he asked. 

“I think I am,” she said. “We have to go talk to Queen Victoria.”


End file.
